Filmmaker Shunji Iwai is having a screening of four of his films in Taipei over the next two weeks. Not included though is his most well-known film, Swallowtail Butterfly, which was unavailable due to distributor problems. More info on the screenings is at POTS, and video of Love Letter and April Story is on the Love Letter.
SHUNJI IWAI is a Japanese film director credited as a major force in bridging the gap between feature-length films and pop culture genres like rock videos and TV commercials in the 1990s, and also as one of the first to depict the nuanced conflicts of contemporary Japanese youth. This Friday (Nov. 12), four of his films will begin a two week run as part of the Shunji Iwai Retrospective, which is actually a mini-retrospective showcasing him at mid-career. Iwai is only 42-years-old.
“He’s a popular director in Taiwan, but so far his films have only appeared as part of film festivals,” said organizer Patrick Huang (黃茂昌), of Flash Forward Entertainment. “This is a good chance to group his films together in theaters for local audiences, and also to promote his new film, Hanna and Alice, which will also play as part of the Golden Horse Film Festival” – which opens later this month.
